Support and adjustment means for rotatable clothesbaskets



John H. Robinson, Paul L'. Paulsen,

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'Their` Attorney.'

Patented Sept. 7, 1954 SUPPORT AND ADJUSTMENT MEANS FOR l'ROTA'IABL'E CLOTHESBASKETS John H. Robinson, Stepney Depot, and Paul L.

Paulsen, Bridgeport, Conn., assignors to General Electric Company, a, corporation lof New York Application September 29, 1951, Serial No. 2458,996

3 Glaims. l

'The present invention relates to means for supporting vand adjusting members mounted for rotation on a non-vertical axis, and more particularly to a supporting and adjusting means for rotatable clothes baskets for use in domestic clothes dryers.

Generally, domestic rclothes dryers Icomprise a basket or ldrum mounted for rotation on a horizontal 'axis for tumbling the laundry during the course of drying, and a `casing provid-ing a charnber in which the drum is mounted. The Acasing may be conveniently formed in 'the shape Iof an inverted U, with a large circular front opening. This opening coincides with `an opening in the front end of the tumbler basket substantially concentric with the axis of rotation thereof. Since it is desirable to have as free access as possible to the tumbler drum for loading and removal of laundry, such drums Vare customarily mounted in -a cantilever 'fashion with a single support bearing structure at the rear of the casing. Some means, of course, must be provided inthe mounting for adjusting the drum position to make 'the drum opening `coincide with the casing opening.

Accordingly, it is the object of .our invention to provide novel structure lfor supporting and adjusting clothes drums.

.Another object of our invention is to provide adjusting and supporting means for clothes basz kets which permits adjustment not only at the time of assembly of the clothes dryer .but also after the assembly has been completed and the dryer put in use.

'Still another object lof our invention is to provide a support and adjustment structure for clothes baskets in which the adjustment is made between the pivot point `of the shaft bearing and the basket load.

A still further object of our invention is to provide a drum `supporting structure which lcan be readily adjusted without the use of .shims in carrying out our invention vin a presently preferred form, we mount -a foraminated tumbler drum with-in a heated, insulated chamber for rotation on a non-vertical axis. 'The charnber is formed by a `casing having a cylindrical opening in its front panel portion coinciding generally with an opening in the frontend of the tumbler. rIhe drum shaft is supper-ted in a mounting structure at the rear of the casing and is driven by a sheave keyed to its free end. The mounting structure includes a shaft bearing mem-ber pivotally `supported therein at a point intermediate the sheave land the drum. Adjust- .2 ing means 'are .provided by which the drum shaft bearing and 'thereby `the drum may be tilted as necessary to align the drum and easing openings, which means are located between the main pivotal bearing support and the drum.

The features of our invention which we believe to :be novel are set forth with particularty in the appended claims. Our invention itself, however, both as to its organization and method of operation, together with further objects and advantages thereof, may Ibest be understood by reference to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation of the upper portion of a clothes dryer embodying our invention; Fig.. 2 is :an enlarged fragmentary sectional View of the support and adjustment means of Fig. l; and Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary View, partly in section, of the support and adjustment means :as seen from the drive sheave end but Ishown with the sheave and key removed.

Referring now to the drawings, such parts of a domestic clothes :dryer to which our invention has been applied are shown in Fig. 1 as is necessary to an understanding of the drum supporting .and adjusting means. An outer casing or housing l is provided, having front and rear panels 2 .and 3 which are preferably attached to the housing by removable fastenings. A cylindrical lsleeve 4 extends inwardly from the front wall 2 within which a door 5 seats when closed. The door is preferably gasketed by a resilient strip (i which compresses against the front panel when the door is latched in closed position and prevents the escape of lint during the operation of the dryer. The door l5 `may have a transparent Window l through which the interior of the v'dryer is visible.

As is customary in such `clothes dryers, a heater and protective screen assembly 8 is provided to supply the necessary heat to cause vevaporation of the moisture in the laundry load. Mea-ns, not shown, are provided to cause the circulation of air past the heater, and louvers 9 are formed in the rear wall 3 to admit air to the interior of the casing. Y

A rear wall It is provided forward of the louvered panel 3 'and may -be insulated by `means of batt type insulation l l. Similarly an inner housing `or casing l2 is `provid-ed and may be insulated by the material 'i3 .and an inner front Wall I4 is provided and may .be insulated by the material l5. `The walls l' and 14 maybe flanged at their lower ends to be fastened to a base, not shown. The inner casi-ng I2 is preferably 3 wrapped around the front and rear walls with its forward edges anged to overlap the peripheries of said walls in a socket-like arrangement as clearly shown in Fig. 1.

The inner housing I2 and the front and rear inner walls IIJ and I4 provide a rigid assembly, as explained in detail in our copending application, Serial Number 209,280, filed February 3, 1951, for a Clothes Drier, and owned by the General Electric Company, assignee of the present application.

The panel Ii] is Placed sufficiently forward of the outer housing rear wall 3 to provide a rela.- tively deep rear compartment which accommodates the tumbler drive mechanism and serves as an air admission chamber communicating by way of the louvers 9 with the outer atmosphere. A tumbler drum or basket I6, which illustratively is of the horizontal axis cylindrical type, has front and rear walls I1 and I8 and a foraminated peripheral wall I9. To define a drum opening, the front wall has a short neck portion 2D which extends in concentric overlapping relationshipv with the sleeve 4.

It will be noted that tumbler drum I6 is supported only at its rear end, in cantilever fashion. Consequently, it is desirable to give it additional rigidity by inwardly dishing a relatively large central area 2| of the rear wall I3. The center of this wall portion is secured by rivets or the like to the flanged end of an enlarged head portion 22 of a shaft 23. A dished reinforcement plate 24 may also be provided and riveted to the tumbler wall i3 in spaced relation with respect theretol and secured to the tumbler sha-ft 2'3. A plurality of conventional triangular tumbling ribs 25 may be provided for tumbling and fiuffmg of the clothes as the drum is rotated.

The tumbler drum shaft support structure comprises a rigid relatively wide channel 26 extending upwardly from a base, not shown. A U- shaped member 21, open at the top and bottom and having relatively wide legs as best seen in Fig. 3, is welded or otherwise secured to the sides of the channel member 23 at its upper end, and forms a main pivotal support means. for the tumbler drum shaft 23 as hereinafter more fully explained. Also welded or otherwise secured to the top edge of the U-shaped supporting member, and thereby rigidly secured to the channel post 26, is a stiffening angle member 28 which extends transversely across the rear wall I0 to which it is also secured in a suitable manner such as by screws 29. The ends of the angle member 28 extend to the marginal edges of the drying chamber housing. Thus, the forward thrust of the channel 25 occasioned by the weight of the tumbler drum and its contents is opposed by the very substantial resistance to distortion of the drying chamber inner casing, as more fully explained in our aforementioned copending application.

The improved shaft and tumbler support means is best understood by reference to Fig. 1 in conjunction with Figs. 2 and 3. As shown in Fig. l, the shaft 23 extends rearwardly of the drum I6 and has secured to its end a sheave or pulley 3&1 non-rotatably afxed to it by means of a set screw 3 I. The sheave 3! may be driven by means of a belt 32 which in turn may be driven by motor means, not shown, and drives the shaft 23 and the drum I3. The shaft is journaled in a bearing structure 33 extending from just behind the plate 24 to the hub of the pulley 30. This` sleeve bearing is provided with bearing inserts .34 and 35 at each end thereof, and it is within these insert bearing surfaces that the shaft 23 rotates. It should be understood, of course, that a direct sleeve bearing can be used as the journaling medium and that the construction shown with the insert bearing members 34 and 35 is not a necessary part of our invention.

The main support for the shaft bearing 33 is provided by the U-shaped supporting member 21 in the rear panel of which is formed a cylindrical opening 36 of a slightly greater diameter than the outside diameter of the bearing 33. This arrangement permits the bearing 33 sufficient play that it and consequently the shaft 23 can pivot when necessary to adjust the drum I5. Since the main support member 21 is rigidly xed to both the stiffening angle member 28 and the channel post 26, a firm and reliable support for the shaft bearing is formed.

An opening 31 is formed in the rear wall I0 and the channel post 26 and is of considerably larger diameter than that of the opening 36. Consequently, the shaft bearing 33 can move relatively freely as it pivots in the rear of the supporting member 21. It is also desirable to provide, between the wall IG and channel 26, a floating washer 38, the inside diameter of which ts tightly on the outside diameter of the sleeve bearing 33 so that lint-laden air is prevented from escaping through the opening 31. This washer moves freely with the bearing to maintain a seal between the wall IIJ and the outer surface of the bearing.

In order that the drum may be adjusted as necessary for proper alignment'I of the drum and casing openings, and locked in any desired position, we provide an improved structure including blocks or wedges for positioning the bearing and a U-bolt shaft locking assembly. The locking assembly includes a U-bolt 39 which extends around the upper portion of the shaft bearing 33 with its threaded end members 413 and '4I extending downwardly substantially parallel to the sides' of the U-shaped supporting member 21. This U-bolt is anchored to `a portion of a bracket 4.2 having downwardly extending side wall members 43 and 44 and a downwardly extending front tab member 45 all fixed securely, as by welding, to the side and rear portions of the channel post 26. The ends d and 4| of the U-bolt 39 pass through suitable openings in the bracket 42 as best seen in Fig. 3, and are anchored thereto by means of adjusting nuts Ils-3 and 41. Supported on the top surface of the bracket 42 is a pair of blocks `I8 and 63 positioned to bear against and support the under side of the sleeve bearing 33. These blocks may be formed with their edge portions cut away to provide a sloping surface for the purpose of supporting the sleeve bearing 33, also as best seen in Fig. 3. Since the load end of the bearing is resting upon these blocks, any movement of them toward each other will cause the bearing to rise, thereby causing the drum to rise, and any movement of the blocks away from each other will permit the bearing to lower, and thereby cause the drum to lower. When the blocks 48 and 49 are moved simultaneously in the same lateral direction, the bearing 33 will move in a horizontal plane corresponding to the movement of the blocks. It is evident that combinations of the above-described block movements will provide adjustment of the drum in a universal manner. Naturally, the weight carried by the sleeve 33 will force the blocks 48 and 49 apart unless they are restrained. The restraining force is provided by adjusting screws 152 and 53 which pass through oversize openings in the U-shaped main support member 21 and threaded openings in the channel post 26 and bear against the respective blocks 48 and 49. When it is desired, for example, to move the blocks toward each other to elevate the drum i6, the U-bolt is loosened, and the screws 52 and i53 are turned inwardly; while, when it is desired to lower the drum it, the screws 52 and -53 are turned outwardly so that the blocks can spread apart. To move the drum laterally, one screw is turned in and the other withdrawn, and to accomplish a universal adjustment, the screws 52 and 53 are turned in or withdrawn in unequal degree. A pair of lock nuts 54 and 515, on screws 52 and 53 respectively, are provided and may be tightened to lsecure the screws once the desired adjustment has been made, whereupon the nuts 46 and 41 on the legs of the U-bolt are then tightened to lock the bearing in position on the blocks.

This support and adjusting means eliminates the need for shims and accordingly can be used not only during assembly of the clothes dryer but later in the field whenever adjustment becomes necessary. By removing th rear section 3 of the casing, the operator or service man can loosen the nuts 46 and 41 and manipulate the adjusting screws 52 and 53 to move the drum to the desired position.

While we have shown a particular embodiment of our invention, it will be understood, of course, that we do not wish to be limited thereto since many modifications may be made; and we, therefore, contemplate by the appended claims to cover any such modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of our invention.

What we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a laundry machine, an outer casing, a clothes receiving drum within the casing, a shaft for said drum, a bearing for said shaft, means for pivo-tally supporting said shaft bearing, adjusting means positioned between said supporting means and said drum for universally tilting said shaft to position said drum within said casing, said adjusting means including a pair of blocks having tapered faces supporting said bearing, means for selectively moving each of said blocks inwardly and outwardly with respect to said shaft, and locking means for holding said bearing and said blocks in engagement.

' 2. In a clothes tumbling machine including a tumbling drum having an access opening in one end thereof and a supporting shaft extending from its opposite end, an enclosing housing for said drum with access means to be aligned with said drum access opening, and drum support means for rotatably supporting said drum withr in said housing, said support means comprising a bearing assembly for said drum shaft, a block positioned o-n each of the opposite sides of the axis of rotation of the shaft and each having a sloping face in contact with said bearing assembly, means on said housing for movably supporting said blocks, means cooperable with said housing and individual to each block for adjusting and fixing the position of each of said blocks relative to said bearing assembly, and clamping means for securing said bearing assembly in contact with the sloping faces of said blocks.

3. A universally adjustable shaft bearing and support comprising a fixed base, an axially extending bearing, means on said base pivotally supporting said bearing adjacent one end thereof, a plurality of blocks slidably carried on said base on opposite sides of said bearing and each having a tapered face in supporting relation with said bearing, means on said base for selectively adjusting the position of each of said blocks individually with respect to said bearing, and clamping means cooperable with said base for maintaining said bearing in contact with said block tapered faces.

References Cited in the flle of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,050,177 Seaman Jan. 14, 1913 1,676,292 Schwemlein July 10, 1928 2,506,516 Moore May 2, 1950 

